This afternoon (wed), Lieutenant Governor Thomas Molloy is presenting Exemplary Service Medals and Star of Life Awards to Emergency Medical Services professionals. This is Canada’s highest honour for paramedics. The medal and subsequent bars recognize 20, 30 and 40 years of service in responding to emergencies. The Star of Life Award recognizes outstanding commitment and acts of bravery. Nine people are being honoured.

MEDALS

Governor General EMS Exemplary Service – 20 Years

Ramsay Bellisle

Ramsay is a man of many talents but leadership is likely his most outstanding trait. His exemplary service with Parkland Ambulance Care in Prince Albert has attained him the rank of team leader, where he assesses and coaches individuals at various stages of their professional careers. His hard work as a Paramedic, caring for others, is an integral part of the Parkland Ambulance Care team as well. Ramsay supports Parkland Ambulance Care with over 30 volunteer hours annually. He has also had an outstanding career with the Canadian Armed forces for the past 24 years and currently holds the rank of Chief Warrant officer and Sergeant Major of the North Saskatchewan Regiment. Ramsay’s dedication, service and leadership qualities are proof of his exemplary service.

Keith Howse – receiving Exemplary Service Medal as well as First Bar

Keith has been with Pangman EMS for over 32 years. He started as an Emergency Medical Responder in 1985, soon becoming an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in 1987, EMT-Advanced in 1997 and finished in 2000 with his ICP training. Keith has always put his community and coworkers at the fore front. He has untiringly pushed for advancing health care, specifically in EMS. Keith has worked very hard to provide service to his community and because of this his ambulance service has not been out of service once in the past 32 years. Keith has also been heavily involved in doing fundraisers totaling over $100,000.00 to continually upgrade the EMS service. Through his tireless commitment, he has fought for his community needs.

Natalie Leblanc

Natalie started her career in Swift Current on April 1st 1996. In 1997 she upgraded to Intermediate Care Paramedic and then in 2003 became an Advanced Care Paramedic. From the very beginning of her career she has had a strong and caring attitude dedicated to the provision of emergency medical services in her community. Over the years Natalie has lead the way in volunteering for such activities as involvement in fair days, building floats for parades and organizing EMS week activities. Natalie is married to Jamie and they have one daughter Emmerson. She is the kind of paramedic that others look up to as a leader and a mentor.

Kyle Sereda

Kyle began his career in 1997, but hadn’t always planned a career in EMS. It was the sudden death of his twin brother Kim, who was an Emergency Medical Technician at the time of his passing, that made Kyle have the desire to give EMS a try. Since that time he has never looked back. It was very evident early on in his career in EMS that Kyle not only had a passion for the patients that he came into contact with, but the industry as a whole. Kyle believes in leadership by example and strives to be “better today than he was yesterday.” He continues to demonstrate this today both professionally and personally. He has done this by increasing his knowledge as well as his responsibilities as a practitioner, supervisor, instructor and director of operation now becoming Chief of his service. He has also held the role of President of Saskatchewan Emergency Medical Services Association (SEMSA). Adding to his list of advancing EMS, Kyle has been or is a current member of other organizations including the Saskatchewan College of Paramedics, Canadian Organizations of Paramedic Regulators, and the Paramedic Association of Canada just to name a few. Kyle is married to Angela and they have one daughter and any time he spends away from his family is spent towards EMS and his pursuit in better serving the public and the EMS industry. Throughout his diverse roles his core values of commitment, dependability, humility, and service to others, remains as strong today as they did in the beginning.

FIRST BAR 30-year Medals

Bill Cook

Bill started his career in 1986 and has worked in a number of different areas of emergency services including road ambulance, northern fire camps as well as search and rescue. Bill has been involved in the communities that he serves by teaching First Aid and CPR while he also sits on the board of directors for The Life Saving Society and has sat on the Red Cross Board as a director. Bill has also given much of his time towards the South Saskatchewan First responder conference for the past 18 years, which provides training to Medical First Responders that may not have training opportunities in their local communities. Bill continually strives to improve the quality of his education in order to challenge and provide education to those around him.

Collin Hartness

Collin has always placed the needs of the patient first, no matter what his role was. Collin became an Emergency Medical Technician in June of 1987 and began working in Regina. In 1992 Collin was in the first Advanced Care Paramedic program offered in the Province. In 1995 he became a Medical First Responder coordinator and increased the number of groups from three to 17 with in the first two years. In 2003 Collin became the General Manager of Regina EMS when the health districts amalgamated. He holds a Masters of Arts in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads. During his management role Collin has taken a keen interest in Lean training and is a certified Lean Leader. Through this he has had a positive impact on the former Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region EMS and has facilitated numerous quality improvement initiatives not only for EMS but in hospitals within Regina. Collin not only strives to improve EMS but his community. He does this through volunteering with a number of groups including Regina Hospitals Foundation/United Way Employee, Giving Campaign and the Canadian Diabetes Association. It’s because of Collin’s compassion for those he serves and his dedication to his profession that he is nominated for this award.

Lyle Karasiuk

Words that are used to describe Lyle include service, dedication and commitment. Lyle is currently the Director of Public Affairs and Support Services for Parkland Ambulance Care in Prince Albert. Lyle’s role as an Advanced Care Paramedic is to provide critical lifesaving care, but for Lyle it does not stop there. He provides community education programs that encourage community members to be safe at home, work and in public. Lyle is dedicated to his community, province and country and this shows through his many accomplishments. The Queens Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medal, Saskatchewan Centennial Medal, Saskatchewan Centennial Leadership Award, Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal and City of Prince Albert Citizen of the Year in 2013 are but a few of at least 18 recognitions. Lyle is a part of many boards not just locally but provincially and nationally. When you hear the word volunteer the first person’s name that comes to mind is Lyle’s.

STAR OF LIFE AWARDS

Kote Beriault

Kote has been nominated for the Star of Life award in recognition of his outstanding leadership and dedication to his Emergency Medical Services professionalism. Throughout his career he has proven time and time again to be an enthusiastic, energetic and goal orientated practitioner. Kote started working in Lloydminster as a Primary Care Paramedic and in the fall of 2010 he began the Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP) course by distance education. He accomplished this while continuing to work full time as well as having a new born son. At the time Lloydminster was not an advanced level service so he worked in North Battleford to be able to work at the ACP level. In 2014 Kote was able to return to Lloydminster as it has become an Advanced Life Support service. This came with challenges though as there are two different sets of medical protocols to follow depending on which side of the boarder he worked on. Instead of seeing this as a challenge he embraced it and became a very competent Advanced Care provider in both provinces. Kote has been the recipient of a multitude of positive feedback from patients and families including a hug from a patient’s wife for saving her husband’s life. The dedication that he has for learning and teaching students, staff and the community as well as the passion that he puts into each and every call is what has lead him to be nominated as a Star of Life recipient.

Levon Nagy

Levon is a committed, hardworking, motivated and determined individual. Levon does his job with great humility, providing tremendous patient care alongside his co-workers. Levon has been with Parkland Ambulance in Prince Albert for three years and continues to take on new opportunities when presented with them and is a strong volunteer in many community events.

What makes Levon outstanding is his courage and quick thinking which prevented a terrible collision from becoming a tragedy. Ambulances respond to collisions but rarely are they involved in one. On the morning or Sunday May 14, 2017 a vehicle with no lights on was on the wrong side of the road and was heading towards the ambulance Levon was driving, head on. Levon’s bravery, quick thinking and courage prevented an inevitable head on collision from being much worse. Levon quickly steered the ambulance away from the oncoming vehicle, which managed to strike the side of the ambulance. His courage and bravery saved lives. The impaired driver of the vehicle and the two occupant’s received only minor injuries. The paramedic in the back and the patient that they were transporting were not injured. As paramedics we care for one another and would do anything to save the other. Levon’s courage prevented a terrible situation from becoming worse.